Assessment of radioactivity levels and radiological-hazard indices in plant fertilizers used in Iraqi Kurdistan Region

Abstract

The present study is to determine the activity concentration of radioactive nuclide in plant fertilizers used in agriculture in Iraqi Kurdistan region using high- purity germanium detector (HPGe) gamma spectrometer. The results showed that the range of activity concentrations for 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs in chemicals and organic fertilizers are (0.1–134), (0.1–74), (1–12,000) and (0–1) Bq/kg respectively, based on the measured activities that were used to assess the radiological hazards. Radium equivalent activity in some samples exceeds the value (370 Bq/kg) which recommended by the OECD.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Directorate of Agriculture Research-Erbil- Ministry of Agriculture, the center of scientific research Salahaddin University-Erbil, and the center of Nuclear Research Koya University for their help in conducting this research.

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